Loyalty to the Mormon church

Ever wonder why both Mormon politicians and lay members vote in unison in support of the church, despite their differing political affiliations?

Ever wonder what motivates members of the church to reject their own spouses, children and relatives in favor of the church?

Ever wonder why members of the church sacrifice their personal integrity in defense of official church history and practices?

The answer is that faithful members know that their first and foremost duty is uncompromising loyalty to the church.

Church President Godon B. Hinckley recently declared:

Now may I say a word concerning loyalty to the Church.

We see much indifference. There are those who say, "The Church won't dictate to me how to think about this, that, or the other, or how to live my life."

No, I reply, the Church will not dictate to any man how he should think or what he should do. The Church will point out the way and invite every member to live the gospel and enjoy the blessings that come of such living. The Church will not dictate to any man, but it will counsel, it will persuade, it will urge, and it will expect loyalty from those who profess membership therein.

When I was a university student, I said to my father on one occasion that I felt the General Authorities had overstepped their prerogatives when they advocated a certain thing. He was a very wise and good man. He said, "The President of the Church has instructed us, and I sustain him as prophet, seer, and revelator and intend to follow his counsel."

I have now served in the general councils of this Church for 45 years. I have served as an Assistant to the Twelve, as a member of the Twelve, as a Counselor in the First Presidency, and now for eight years as President. I want to give you my testimony that although I have sat in literally thousands of meetings where Church policies and programs have been discussed, I have never been in one where the guidance of the Lord was not sought nor where there was any desire on the part of anyone present to advocate or do anything which would be injurious or coercive to anyone.

The book of Revelation declares: "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

"So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth" (Revelation 3:15–16).

I make you a promise, my dear brethren, that while I am serving in my present responsibility I will never consent to nor advocate any policy, any program, any doctrine which will be otherwise than beneficial to the membership of this, the Lord's Church.

This is His work. He established it. He has revealed its doctrine. He has outlined its practices. He created its government. It is His work and His kingdom, and He has said, "They who are not for me are against me" (2 Nephi 10:16).

In 1933, there was a movement in the United States to overturn the law which prohibited commerce in alcoholic beverages. When it came to a vote, Utah was the deciding state.

I was on a mission, working in London, England, when I read the newspaper headlines that screamed, "Utah Kills Prohibition."

President Heber J. Grant, then President of this Church, had pleaded with our people against voting to nullify Prohibition. It broke his heart when so many members of the Church in this state disregarded his counsel.

On this occasion I am not going to talk about the good or bad of Prohibition but rather of uncompromising loyalty to the Church.

How grateful, my brethren, I feel, how profoundly grateful for the tremendous faith of so many Latter-day Saints who, when facing a major decision on which the Church has taken a stand, align themselves with that position. And I am especially grateful to be able to say that among those who are loyal are men and women of achievement, of accomplishment, of education, of influence, of strength—highly intelligent and capable individuals.

Each of us has to face the matter—either the Church is true, or it is a fraud. There is no middle ground. It is the Church and kingdom of God, or it is nothing.

- President Gordon B. Hinckley. "Loyalty," April Conference, 2003.

Was the Bible translated byJoseph Smith by the spirit of revelation or by scholarly interpretation?

My thoughts relate to a Mormon church article written 20 years ago and reposted in the LDS Church News as an item of interest. Here's a link to the article first published in March 1989.

http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/18590/Bible-was-translated-by-spirit-of-revelation-not-scholarly-interpretation.html

Some questions that I have that arise from the above article link.

1. Did Joseph Smith and Sydney Rigdon stand to profit from this venture if the "corrected" Bible was published at some later date?

2. If JS was able to "translate" the Bible without script or plates with ancient languages, is it possible that he together with Syndey Rigdon also performed the "translation" of the Book of Mormon and the Book of Abraham using the same process?

3. What evidence is there that the Bible translations were anything but made up by JS and Sydney Rigdon?

4. Why have modern day "Prophets, Seers and Revelators" not completed the so-called translation of the Bible that JS started?

5. Why does the Mormon church not use the JS Bible as constituted by JS in its teachings and doctrines? Why are only snippets of the translations included in the King James Version of the Bible that the Mormon church uses?

6. What other scripture, doctrine, theology, etc would have JS brought forward had he lived longer?

I'll first examine and compare what JS "translated" in the Book of Mormon and Bible.

In the Book of Mormon, please turn to 3 Nephi 13:25-27. Here is a direct quote:

“(halfway down verse 25) Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?”

The same EXACT passage is in the Bible, in the book of Matthew 6:25-27:

“25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?”

Yes, the Bible and the Book of Mormon are identical because, according to Joseph’s transaltion fo the Book of Mormon, Jesus said the same thing to the people of the Americas. Remember that they are identical in each book.

Now, I wish to look in the LDS issued KJV Bible to the Joseph Smith Translation in the back of the book on page 802.

For Matthew 6:25-27 it says:

“25. And, again, I say unto you, go ye into the world, and care not for the world: for the world will hate you, and will persecute you, and will turn you out of their synagogues.
26. Nevertheless, ye shall go forth from house to house, teaching the people; and I will go before you.
27. And your heavenly Father will provide for you whatsoever things ye need for food, what ye shall eat; and for raiment, what ye shall wear or put on.”

According to Joseph Smith, he corrected the Bible. But in doing so he corrected the Book of Mormon! Remember that Joseph Smith stated that The Book of Mormon is the most correct book. He translated it only one decade before the so-called translation of the Bible. The Book of Mormon was not corrupted over time. Remember that The Book of Mormon has the same scriptural errors that the Bible has, and it was only written 10 years before the JST.

Where was God in that process, and why didn’t he correct Joseph the first time, when he was “translating” the gold plates? Why didn’t God take that opportunity to make the necessary changes to the Book of Mormon? If the Bible is incorrect, and needed changes according to Joseph Smith, why does the Book of Mormon still get to stand as the most correct book on Earth if it contains THE SAME MISTAKES?

Next I'll examine and compare what witnesses say about the translation of the Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith and his scribes and how modern day prophets receive and declare the word of God.

Contrary to Mormon church authorized art work, Joseph Smith did not literally use the Gold Plates in the translation process, neither did he use the Urim and Thummim he claimed were together with the Gold Plates that he retrieved from the side of the hill Cummorah. In the church's approved magazine called the Ensign, one of the church leaders makes mention and quotes early church leader David Whitmer on the translation process. Here's a link to the Ensign article and the quote of interest.

http://tinyurl.com/2n5ecd

David Whitmer wrote:

“Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man.” (David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ, Richmond, Mo.: n.p., 1887, p. 12.)

Youtube has a couple of great videos about the stone in the hat method.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPnu0bx3oWg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4RPpWfvVNs

I have never ever heard of any prophet that followed the death of Joseph Smith who used a seer stone to receive revelation or translate any ancient script or ancient languages. Why haven't modern day prophets used seer stones to receive revelation? Former church president and prophet Gordon B. Hinckley declared the church doesn't need a lot of continuing revelation.

http://www.lds-mormon.com/hinckley.shtml

Gordon B. Hinckley: We have a great, basic reservoir of revelation. But if a problem arises, as it does occasionally, a vexatious thing with which we have to deal, we go to the Lord in prayer. We discuss it as a First Presidency and as a Council of the Twelve Apostles. We pray about it and then comes the whisperings of a still small voice. And we know the direction we should take and we proceed accordingly.

DR: And this is a Revelation?

Gordon B. Hinckley: This is a Revelation.

DR: How often have you received such revelations?

Gordon B. Hinckley: Oh, I don’t know. I feel satisfied that in some circumstances we’ve had such revelation. It’s a very sacred thing that we don’t like to talk about a lot. A very sacred thing.

Does this sound like a prophet of God to you? It sounds to me like someone who doesn't know what they are talking about and lying. How would the world react if Hinckley explained that he put a stone into a hat and pulled the hat over his face and received revelation that way? Is it possible for a prophet of God to lie? Decide for yourself after Hinckley makes some statements in public.

http://www.lds-mormon.com/gbh.shtml

Is it possible then that Joseph Smith lied about the translation of the plates and Bible? I think so.

Was Joseph Smith and Sydney Rigdon motivated by potential profit from the sale of the translated Bible and Book of Mormon? Joseph was desperate for money.

http://www.i4m.com/think/history/sell_BOM_copyright.htm

http://www.mrm.org/topics/the-book-mormon/the-attempt-sell-book-mormon-copyright

If it's possible that Joseph failed in his prophecy to sell the copyright of the Book of Mormon, is it not also possible that he also failed in others items of revelatory importance? I think so.

Now let's examine if Joseph and Sydney simple have made it up and concocted the whole story about the Book of Mormon and Bible translation.

Because we do not have the Gold Plates with the "Reformed Egyptian" characters to compare translations, it is hard to test the validity and claims of Joseph Smith. What if there was hard ancient scripts or texts in existence that could be tested? Such is the case in the Book of Abraham papyrus and also in the Kinderhook Plates. First let's look at the papyrus Joseph claimed was written by Abraham and which Joseph claimed to have translated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcyzkd_m6KE

http://mormonthink.com/boaweb.htm

This above video and webapge makes it plain to see that the Egyptian papyrus was nothing more than funerary text from the Egyptian Book of Breathings. It shows that the facimilies as depicted by Joseph were a complete mistranslation.

The Mormon church puts its own spin on the papyrus in this Ensign article.

http://tinyurl.com/2q37tz

But is it possible that Joseph really translated by the gift and power of God and that we are simply deceived? Examine closely the Kinderhook plates which Joseph began a translation of but never completed...kind of like the Bible.

http://mormonthink.com/kinderhookweb.htm

Take a look at how Mormon church in this Ensigh article twists the truth about the kinderhook plates.

http://tinyurl.com/2r5x2h

It is clear that Joseph attempted to translate plates that were a complete hoax! If Joseph misrepresented himself with the Kinderhook forgeries, is it possible he also misrepresented himself with the Bible translations and Book of Mormon? I think s

What else would Joseph Smith had claimed to be from God had he lived longer?

One only has to consider that he claimed the Book of Mormon contained the fullness of the Gospel, yet he introduced new doctrine in the Book of Commandments which was later revised and reintroduced to the church as the Doctrine and Covenants.

http://www.2think.org/hundredsheep/boc/boc_main.shtml

Did Joseph ever come forward with doctrine contradictory to teachings in the Gold Plates?

There are dozens of scriptural contradictions. Here are just a few:

Alma 34:36
And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the crighteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb.

D&C 130:3
John 14:23-
The appearing of the Father and the Son, in that verse, is a personal appearance; and the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man’s heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false.

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3 Nephi 30:2
Turn, all ye Gentiles, from your wicked ways; and repent of your evil doings, of your lyings and deceivings, and of your whoredoms, and of your secret abominations, and your idolatries, and of your murders, and your priestcrafts, and your envyings, and your strifes, and from all your wickedness and abominations, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, that ye may receive a remission of your sins, and be filled with the Holy Ghost, that ye may be numbered with my people who are of the house of Israel.

D&C 42:18
And now, behold, I speak unto the church. Thou shalt not kill; and he that kills shall not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come.

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Alma 7:10
And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.

Matthew 2:1
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem

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2 Nephi 25:23
For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.

Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

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Helaman 14:27
And he said unto me that while the thunder and the lightning lasted, and the tempest, that these things should be, and that darkness should cover the face of the whole earth for the space of three days.

Luke 23:44
And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. (3 Hours)

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JS called the Book of Mormon the most correct book on earth. It's supposed to contain the fullness of the gospel. The church teaches many doctrines that are simply not recorded in the BoM. For instance, where does it teach in the BoM that God was once a mortal man? Where does it say that the Father has a body of flesh and bone? Where does it mention that Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers? Why is baptism for the dead not preached once in the BoM? Since when does the BoM teach that cleansing power of Christ's blood doesn't cover all of my sins? Why does the BoM not cover the authority of God, being that of the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods? How come the BoM only teaches about ONE God and not pluarilty of Gods? Polygamy was an abomination in the sight of God in the BoM, yet it's in the D & C as the everlasting covenant.

If Joseph were alive today, he would not recognize the modern day Mormon church that leaders today claim is the truth restored by Joseph Smith. But he would be most pleased that his myth lives on!